Chapter 4: Teacher and apprentice

The darkness was soothing, safe. A refuge against the cruelty of the world and he didn't want to leave it, but slowly the world was yet again forced upon him and he had to open his eyes. He didn't realize where he was at first, then he slowly remembered and winced, feeling how a sense of panic threatened to overwhelm him completely. He had to get out, away, escape. Then a warm hand touched his shoulder and another grasped his trembling hand and some of his panic did dissipate. "Relax my friend, you are safe"

He saw Artemar sitting by his side, the albino looked tired and Maglor realized that he hadn't left the elf's side since after that horrible event in the great hall. The albino smiled and caressed his hand, there was genuine concern in his eyes and Maglor tried to smile. "How do you feel?"

The voice was warm and caring and Maglor found the strength to speak. "Like shite, I ache allover"

Artemar nodded and sighed. "No wonder, that beast really went for it like the monster he is. Harbal managed to stitch you up together again, you will be fine but no solid food for you for a while."

Maglor moaned, that too. Well, he bet Harbal knew what he was doing for he just felt numb all over, the ache was there but it wasn't really awful, just bad. Artemar lifted a cup of something to his lips. "Here, drink this"

Maglor drank, it was cool fruit juice of some sort and it was just wonderful, the taste made him reach for more but Artemar shook his head. "Nope, no more for now. You have to be careful, too much to drink after having been drugged that deep will leave you nauseous."

Maglor just moaned and realized that he couldn't sit up. "Eru, I am still alive!"

Artemar clicked his tongue. "Indeed you are pretty one, very much so. Thank every God for that."

Maglor blinked, he felt sort of terribly tired and dizzy. "Please, tell me there won't be another encounter like that, I cannot bare the thought. If he does that to me once more I will perish for sure, I won't have the strength to survive again"

Artemar grinned, a rather devilish grin. "Don't worry, the boys have been hard at work while you were out. The Sha'al felt sort of weak afterwards and his mother did tell him that fucking you would drain him of energy. She got my message you see. But being around you may invigorate him, and well, the idea caught on. She got hand of some mystic or mage or whatever who showed up this morning and proclaimed that your bodily fluids would make the Sha'al live for a heck of a long time"

Maglor winced yet again. "By bodily fluids you mean?"

Artemar shrugged. "Sweat, piss, seed, whatever. From now on you will be washed by some special slaves and the sweat soaked cloths turned to medicine."

Maglor felt even more dizzy. "So he won't try to take me again?"

Artemar shook his head vigorously. "Nope, you are safe from him. But from now on you can bet that you will be the most precious thing he's got so you will be treated like you were made from the finest china."

Maglor had to grin. "Well, he didn't exactly treat me like that when he took me, more as if I was a piece of meat"

Artemar reached out and caressed his cheek. "No more of that Maglor, I swear."

The elf relaxed visibly and Harbal entered the room, the old man smiled and put a cool hand on Maglor's forehead. "I have to check on the progress, do you mind if I do?"

Maglor shook his head, he feared this but he didn't really have a problem with Harbal, he was a healer after all. The old man gently rolled the elf over on his side and moved his legs and Maglor whimpered. Now that he had to move he felt the pain again and it was making him breathe fast and shallowly. Harbal sort of hummed, the sound was very soothing and Maglor felt gentle fingers examine him, it hurt but he knew it could have been way worse.

Harbal smiled and put the blanket in place again, washed his hands in a basin with water and wine. "You are healing at a tremendous speed, I have never seen anything like it. In a week or two you will be back to normal."

Maglor swallowed. He had survived so what now? He saw that Artemar was swaying and he frowned. "Are you allright?"

The albino sent him a swift grin. "Yes, I am fine. Worry not my friend. I have been watching over you the whole time."

Maglor gasped. "Oh Eru, for how long…"

Artemar yawned. "Two whole days. Harbal kept you sedated"

Maglor felt a surge of a strange sort of gratitude rush through him, it was…well, it was in a way humbling to know that Artemar had done that. " I am very grateful"

Artemar just waved him off with a swift gesture. "Oh don't think of it, I wanted to make sure you weren't alone if you suddenly woke up"

Maglor felt a sort of tenderness, nobody had done something like that for him for….he had no idea of for how long. He tried to give Artemar's hand a swift squeeze. "Thank you my friend."

Artemar just lifted Maglor's hand and gave it a swift peck. "Like I said, no big deal"

Maglor tried to relax, weeks to recover? That would be boring to say the least. "What now?"

Artemar cocked his head. "What do you mean what now?"

Maglor sort of grimaced. "What am I supposed to do? There has to be something I can do yes?"

Artemar smiled and caressed his hair. "Oh I will transform you Maglor, into the best dancer ever. And the others will teach you their skills too, in time you will be so sought after you will become more famous than the Sha'al himself."

Maglor blushed. "I am not a dancer? I have barely danced ever! My mom said I was constantly stumbling in my own legs even as a kid."

Artemar rubbed his hands together. "Oh but I love a challenge my dear, believe me, you will become a gem when I am finished with you. And the others will help with the transformation too, believe me"

Maglor frowned. "The dance you and the two others did? And Kerfem told some stories? Is that common entertainment here?"

Artemar giggled. "Oh that dance was rather risqué wasn't it? But it set the mood, we aren't that …straight forward normally. And Kerfem, oh, he was insulting the crowd."

Maglor raised an eyebrow in a manner that would have made his foster son nod in approval. "What?!"

Artemar nodded with a wide grin. " Oh yes, he did insult them. It is regarded as an art you see, insulting someone in either an extremely subtle manner or a very rude one. The more inventive you are the better, and Kerfem is a master at it. It is all a show, and everybody knows that. If someone else said those things they would be executed on the spot but Kerfem is famous, it is seen almost as an honor to have your name slandered by him"

Maglor shook his head in disbelief, humans! "So, what sort of insults does he use?"

Artemar grinned widely. "Oh, some are so subtle, you would think he was actually trying to flatter the person, but just a small hint tells you that he is meaning the opposite of what he really says. His most famous one up to now is the one time he called some high ranking ambassador the son of a warthog with just one teat"

Maglor frowned. "Ah, I am not so sure I understand?"

Artemar giggled. " Oh I am sure you do, what sort of hog has only one teat?"

The albino made a discrete gesture towards his crotch and Maglor blushed. " Oh, a male one"

Artemar nodded eagerly. "Indeed, so he managed to call the ambassador a warthog, insinuate that his father was taken in the ass by a swine to have him, and that he doesn't have a mother at all but was born in an unnatural manner"

Maglor felt a bit shocked. " I see"

Artemar grinned. "So you see, being good at bending words is in high regard here, as is poetry too."

Maglor got a bit interested. "Really? What sort of poetry?"

Artemar sighed. "The type of poetry that would leave you feel nauseous, believe me, it is so sugar sweet and terrible I sometimes wish I was deaf. They make poems about pretty maidens with doe eyes and skin like velvet and some even more over the top poems about their favorite horses. Sometimes those two types are hard to differentiate."

Maglor had to grin. "Elven poetry is very different from that"

Artemar grinned again and caressed Maglor's hair again. "Indeed, I am eager to hear some of it, but now I need my beauty sleep. Harbal will make you some food soon."

Maglor did feel hungry after all and he wondered silently if the vision of his brother had been real or not. Artemar kissed his brow and left and Harbal came with a bowl of some sort of soup that smelled very good. Maglor did manage to eat all of it and Harbal sat down and started to examine his hands and his skin. "I have ointments that will make your skin soft as velvet again, and with the food we have access to here you will put weight on rather fast too. I will make sure that that weight is muscle and not fat"

Maglor had to make wry grin. "Nobody have ever heard of a fat elf my friend"

Harbal clicked his tongue and felt the scar tissue that covered Maglor's palms. "The food here can make anyone fat, believe me. It is not very healthy at all!"

Maglor frowned. "Really? I thought the food where was rather nice?"

Harbal nodded. "Some of it is, but the costly food is not, and that is what the rich people crave. When they eat just fat beef and even fatter dishes too it is no wonder few of them live for very long. And the sugar, ah have mercy, it is a sweet poison"

Maglor couldn't remember having tasted sugar more than a few times in his life. It had been extremely expensive and in his eyes way too sweet too. "How come?"

Harbal found a jar of some sort of greasy ointment. "It is very bad for you, I have seen it again and again, and it is not just the teeth which suffer because of all the sugar the rich devour. But they crave it and have enough money to buy it and they doesn't listen to the doctors at all"

Maglor sort of understood, when something was expensive it became a symbol of status. And thus more people wanted to possess it and show off their wealth. He felt a bit drowsy again and Harbal left him so he could nap a little and he fell into reverie very fast. When he woke up again it was one of the twins who sat by his side and as the days went by he got to know them all in a much more personal manner. Noolar did reveal that he had a very nice voice and he often entertained the elf with songs from his homeland. And Maglor soon realized the implications of the small lies the Sha'al had been told. Every morning a slave would come to his room to get the chamber pot and when Maglor took a bath another slave would use some sort of tool to scrape the sweat off his skin before he went into the water. The idea that the Sha'al actually ingested this was both a bit disgusting and a nice revenge and Maglor never failed to make sure that the pot was full in the morning. He had to drink a lot of soup until he was fully healed and he had a feeling that his bladder had gone into overdrive.

His injuries did heal and he was very grateful that Harbal was so skilled, and by now he looked a lot better. He had started moving about again and Artemar had shown him a room with equipment they used to stay fit, and he was looking forward to finding his old strength again. The other males there spent a lot of time in there to make sure they did look their best and Harbal had sort of made a program Maglor ought to follow. But Maglor was bored, quite so, and not even Kerfem's most juicy stories could cheer him up when he felt too confined and depressed. Artemar showed him the garden, it was a closed roofless room with some trees and bushes and it was nice but not very large. It looked like a hall without roof in the middle of the harem complex and it was only for the males of the collection. Just the sight of some greenery was a huge relief to the elf and he tried to spend as much time in there as possible. It reminded him of his sad situation since there was no way out and it made his longing for freedom so much stronger at times but he did cope, in a way.

Artemar made sure he was kept busy with learning the local language, with listening to stories and with hour upon hour of body care. He had his nails filed, his skin oiled and his hair carefully trimmed and taken care off. His entire body was massaged at least twice a day and he almost forgot about what this place was until one evening when they all were gathered by the main pool in the baths, listening to Demetry trying to learn how to play the sitar. It did sound like somebody torturing a cat but he kept trying and Maglor was slightly amused by it. He reminded the elf of some of his younger brother's when they were learning to play instruments or do other things. Maglor was tempted at giving it a try for himself when Artemar suddenly froze, one of the guards who stood by the doors all the time had made a small gesture, hardly noticeable but to everybody in the harem the meaning was clear. Artemar swore and got up, he pretended to be walking over to a table for some fruit but he walked by the guard and some swift words were whispered.

Artemar returned and sat down next to Maglor, looked relaxed but there was tension in his gaze and he was a bit pale. "The Sha'al is coming, he expects a show. He will be hiding in the wall underneath the balcony over there."

Maglor frowned, he had sort of forgotten all about that beast, and why they all were there in the first place. "A show?"

Artemar nodded and Aerhan got up and moved some of the furniture so that somebody watching from that area could see everything that was going on in the room. "An orgy, that is what he craves, and we all have to participate"

Maglor tensed up. " Uh, I do not think that I can…"

Artemar smiled, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Don't worry, nobody is gonna take you yet, but I will give you my full attention for a while, suck you off and so on, that ought to please that bastard"

Maglor didn't feel like it, not at all. He wasn't really feeling like having sex with anyone and the very idea of having others watching like that was a bit disturbing but he sort of understood that he had to. Here they all played a game, and pretended to be something they were not when their owner watched them. Artemar caressed his cheek. " Relax, it will be alright. You just lay back and relax and enjoy and I will do the job. Just make sure to be loud, he likes it when we are loud"

Maglor made a grimace and saw that the others sort of distributed themselves all over the room and started fondling each other rather vigorously. Artemar whispered to Maglor. "He likes to think that we are at it all the time, that we are having sex constantly. That is his fantasy, his little turn on. So we do our best to uphold that illusion and thank goodness the guards can be bought and convinced that it is a good idea to tell us when he is near."

Maglor could understand that yes, and he also understood why it was such a good thing that the slaves did get gifts from their admirers. It had to be rather expensive paying off that many people. Artemar gently untied the sash which held Maglor's robe together, it was a very thin and flimsy thing and it had a very nice deep blue color he kind of liked. Artemar had already gotten rid of his own clothes and now he proceeded to kiss his way down Maglor's body. The elf gasped and tried to relax, but it was very hard to do it. This was something completely new to him and back in the old days the idea of orgies wouldn't even have crossed his mind. But his body did react to Artemar's very skilled touches and before long he was hard and almost panting. Artemar whispered to him. "Forget everything, don't think, just feel. That is how we all manage to get through these moments"

The elf managed to nod, then he just surrendered to Artemar who really knew how to use his lips and tongue in amazing ways, Maglor remembered what he had been told to do and moaned loudly, that at least wasn't hard for Artemar sort of kept him on the edge for a long time. Each time the elf felt that he was about to come the albino slowed down, or stopped to stimulate him altogether and then he sort of coaxed the elf forth once more, until he was trembling and whimpering and almost desperate with need. Maglor could swear that he heard someone moaning from inside the wall and he refused to think about it, that the Sha'al was watching this. Instead he let his hands caress Artemar's long silky hair and he wondered at how soft it was. The albino could almost have been an elf, and he sort of mourned the fact that Artemar was a mere mortal. Such beauty shouldn't have to fade and disappear.

After a short while Artemar stopped teasing and brought Maglor to a climax so strong the elf feared that he would simply pass out. He was screaming from the top of his lungs as the albino eagerly swallowed every drop of seed he had and he heard that others too were coming rather hard. He was dead sure that some of it was just for show, they were faking it rather shamelessly and he could see that at least Rial and Kenar were pretending to be fucking between two huge potted palm trees. There was a switch of partners and now Noolar was suddenly climbing onto the couch next to Maglor, the beautiful dark male winked. "Don't worry, I do not bite. At least not unless I am asked to, but that piece of dung wants to see us sort of fool around with everybody"

Noolar was naked and Maglor did notice some very beautiful tattoos on his body, some across the top of his back, at the small of his back and then a few just above his pubic bone. Noolar pretended to be almost rutting against the elf's body. "I see you like them, they are special to me, very precious."

Maglor turned a little, so that nobody in the Sha'al's direction could see that they were talking. "Do they have special meaning?"

Noolar pretended to be slowly licking his way down Maglor's sweaty torso, Noolar's body wasn't as toned as those of the other males there, it was softer and rounder and he did indeed look very feminine but he still had male parts and he appeared to be almost a bit ashamed of that. "They do, to my tribe."

Maglor pretended to be pulling the other male against himself, rather hard and Noolar whispered to him. "The ones on the top of my back shows which family I come from, the ones lower on my back is the symbols for my spirit animal and the ones in front shows that I am an adult, and that I am a female spirit trapped in male flesh."

Maglor found that a bit fascinating, he had never heard of an elf suffering from that sort of problem and it had to be something that was rather rare after all. Noolar grasped Maglor by the waist and flung him over, got up on top of him and started to kiss him rather eagerly. "Just play along, I bet he will be done soon and then he'll leave"

Maglor could only comply to that, he kissed Noolar back with all the passion he could muster there and then and to his surprise he was getting hard again. Noolar grinned widely and pushed himself up, sent Maglor a swift glance filled with question. "Is it okay for you if I ride you? That will please that ogre in there a lot"

Maglor hesitated, then he nodded and Noolar was probably prepared already for he just sat up and let himself drop down onto Maglor's cock. The elf gasped and he just shuddered and let Noolar set the pace. It was obvious that Noolar enjoyed it for he was making grimaces and made some rather loud sounds that told anyone who wasn't deaf that this was great. Maglor could just lay there and enjoy, for it did feel rather wonderful and Noolar was after all very beautiful, and he did show off his beauty too. It was very obvious that they all had learned how to pose and look their best and Maglor saw that Demetry was fucking Artemar up against the wall and the albino was making some keening sounds while arching his back and thrusting back against the blond dancer's hips in a very wanton manner.

The air was reeking with sex by now and Maglor's very sharp senses were reeling from it, the musk in the air reminded him of goats for some reason. Noolar was tensing up, his face contorting with growing ecstasy and then he let out a hearty howl and came, Maglor felt how warm jets of seed coated his belly and strangely enough it sort of pushed him too over the edge yet again. He yelled as he spilled and for a few seconds the world turned into white light and nothing more. He could hear something that reminded him of a bellowing beast coming from the wall and Noolar let himself fall forward, laid on top of the gasping elf for a few seconds. "He'll leave now, thank goodness. Sometimes it takes half an hour or more before he comes, and we all have to be at it the whole damn time"

Maglor felt drowsy and tired and Noolar laid down next to him, just cuddling. Artemar came and joined them and Maglor felt a bit odd, laying there with a warm solid body on both sides of him but it felt nice too. It felt safe and he sort of snuggled up against Artemar who snickered and kissed his throat. "That was great my friend, there will be some days before he returns. He is after all a ruler, and has things to do"

Maglor preferred not to know what those things were, he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the heavy sated sensation he felt. Artemar yawned. " Time for a small nap, it is exhausting to participate in these activities, at least when it's all about looking sexy the whole damn time."

Maglor sighed, and felt that someone pulled a thin blanket up over them, he opened one eye and saw that it was Kôr who had entered the room, carrying a tray with some jars of wine and some jewelry. Artemar snorted. "Gifts from him, well, they aren't really ours, just ours to show off so others can see his wealth. Ghastly things, well, I bet we have to wear it all the next time he has guests. "

Maglor just mumbled, and he didn't even try to fight it when sleep claimed him. When he woke up the room was darker and the lamps were lit, it was hard to tell night from day unless you were in the garden and in here you didn't see the skies at all. Only the lamps and the few small openings near the roof let light in. He felt the warmth of Noolar on one side and Artemar was laying with his head on Maglor's shoulder, breathing slowly and deeply. Maglor was stunned by how young and innocent the man looked, and felt a surge of tenderness flow through him yet again. They had all tried to help him and support him and if they hadn't Maglor would have been dead for sure by now. Artemar groaned in his sleep and pulled himself closer to the elf and Maglor just relaxed and laid there, staring at the ceiling, thinking of nothing at all.

When the others woke up it was late at night and they were hungry and smelly and took turns at scrubbing each other. Maglor did sense the camaraderie and the friendship between these males and understood that the bonds between them were strong. They were not related in any way except from the twins but this were bonds made from something so much more solid than even bonds of kinship. Here your life depended upon the others surrounding you and that forged a special type of friendship indeed. Artemar helped Maglor wash and the albino's hands were firm but gentle and Maglor enjoyed it, he felt cherished and even perhaps loved in a manner he had completely forgotten during his long lonely years and he sort of felt quite humble because of it.

After they had washed they ate and Maglor understood what Harbal had been talking about. Now that he was aware of it he did see that much of the food was ridiculously sweet or spicy and some of it was swimming in grease. He preferred the vegetables and even they were almost covered in sugar. He washed it all off in a small basin of water meant for washing your hands and the others grinned but didn't say anything. Artemar emptied his wine glass and sighed, stretched himself out on the divan and played with his hair. "Kôr, could you please get the pipes, it is time for something to soothe the nerves."

Maglor frowned, pipes? The boy left and returned with the strange contraptions Maglor only had seen a couple of times before, and then he hadn't really known what they were, they were waterpipes but more elaborate than those he had seen before. Artemar demonstrated one and Maglor got a bit shocked when he saw that they inhaled the smoke the thing created. Artemar smiled, a somewhat melancholic smile. "It is needed, if we hadn't these we would go insane for sure, yes, it is drugging ourselves but the alternative is way worse. The herbs we use is very soothing and relaxing and they sort of removed dark thoughts. Try some"

Maglor waved his hand. "No thanks, I don't think so."

Artemar nodded, " I understand, and these things are addictive as hell but we need them, after all, we are just mortal, and fragile, and this environment will be the death of your soul if you cannot escape, one way or the other."

Maglor saw that several of the others already had rather huge pupils and were in a dreamlike state and he felt a bit disgusted by it but then again, he could understand them too. This was the only escape they could find, and one that was relatively safe too. Before long they all were smoking and some were humming softly to themselves while inhaling the sweet smelling smoke. Maglor found the smell a bit nauseating and he got up and headed back to his room. He had slept so much he wouldn't be able to sleep again so he found some pieces of parchment someone had left there and a stick with some sooth on it and attempted to draw Artemar. It wasn't too bad and he kept himself busy sketching them all that night.

The next morning Artemar showed up with some breakfast and a wide grin, the man looked well rested and eager for some reason and Maglor wondered why. Artemar put the basket onto the table and made a gesture towards it. "Eat my friend, but not too much. Today your training will start"

Maglor didn't really know what to feel about that but he obediently ate some bread and cheese and drank some juice. Artemar had brought a pair of very loose and wide pants and made the elf put them on, then he braided Maglor's hair and tied it up. He grinned from one ear to the other. "Follow me, and I will give you the first lesson of many"

Maglor grimaced but followed Artemar into a room adjacent to the baths. It was empty with mats made from straw on the floor and a huge mirror at one end and Maglor felt so out of his right element there. Artemar sort of pushed him into the middle of the room, then he made the elf sit down. " Maglor, I am sure you elves do dance too, but here the dances are very different and I am going to teach you everything I know. It will be needed, believe me. So from now on I am your teacher whenever we enter this room and I expect respect and obedience from you, understood?"

Maglor nodded, Artemar suddenly looked stern and Demetry entered the room and sat down too, the blonde grinned with a bit of mischief. "He'll push you hard, you can bet on that thing to be sure as hell. But believe me, you will dance like none other whence he is done with you."

Maglor winced and Artemar walked into the middle of the room, then he sort of entered a pose and caught Maglor's eye. "Let me demonstrate the difference between dancing and good dancing"

Artemar started to move to some music only he heard, and Maglor was stunned by the man's elegance, he moved as fluently as a river flowing towards the sea and every move was filled with grace and power and yet….Something was missing. Maglor realized that Artemar danced with a face completely devoid of emotions, his eyes were blank and distant and even though the moves were perfect they were mechanical, and lacked life. Artemar stopped. "See? That was perfect technical dance, but it was still bad."

He got back into a starting position, then he went at it again and this time it was so very different. His face sort of glowed with a secret joy, his eyes sparkled and he was smiling and everything was transformed even though the moves were the same. This dance was mesmerizing and hypnotic and Maglor couldn't look away from Artemar at all. When he finished he did so with a sort of twist that sent him spinning around, chin up and hair flying and it was wonderful to behold. Artemar stopped and cocked his head. " And that was the difference between a horrible dance and one that will make people remember you until their dying day"

Maglor was stunned by the difference and Demetry patted him on the back. "Don't worry, he'll teach you. He taught me, and I am good!"

Artemar nodded. " Oh yes you are, but not as good as me"

Maglor had to grin and Artemar gestured for him to get up. "Now, let me show you how you are supposed to stand."

Maglor sort of scoffed, he did know how to stand on his feet but Artemar sort of pushed and pulled him into a new position, one in which he held his chin up and his shoulders even with his legs slightly spread, weight evenly distributed onto both feet. "Like that, remember that pose, that is the way you center yourself and that is the basis for all movement"

Maglor remembered having learned how to fence, his teacher had used some quite similar terms. Artemar turned him towards the mirror and stood next to him. "Now, watch what I do and try to replicate it, slowly."

The albino sort of sat down in a smooth movement with his arms up above his head and his head tilted to the side, in a very inviting manner. Then he went back up again, arms still up but now in a more powerful arched position. Maglor swallowed, then he tried to replicate the whole sequence and Artemar scoffed and rolled his eyes. " Oh by every hairy God and Goddess, that was awful! Elves are supposed to be graceful, you were as graceful as a…as an old arthritic camel! Again!"

Maglor groaned and did it again, tried to be elegant and Artemar clicked his tongue and shook his head vigorously. "Nope, nope, absolutely nope. You were a bit better but still you act as if you have got a broomstick stuck up your behind, relax, slide into the position, imagine your bones being made from jelly"

Artemar demonstrated again and Maglor had to agree, the man did this so much better than himself. He gritted his teeth together and tried to do as he was told. Tried to slide down elegantly and look seductive doing it. Artemar hissed and rolled his eyes. "Who are you trying to impress? A blind old goat? Those mats over there? Let me show you"

Artemar stepped behind Maglor and put his hands on the elf's hipbones. "Now, start to bend down but let me guide you."

Maglor took a deep breath and started to do the movement but Artemar stopped him. "No, no and no again, you are not to bend at the hip, bend at the knees, keep you pelvis relaxed but upright, imagine that you are sitting down to ride someone really hard and long, express lust with that movement."

Maglor moaned, that was bloody hard but he tried and Artemar made an approving sound. "Better, much better, but an old woman with a fractured hip would still do it better, again!"

And so Maglor spent the most of that day just learning to bend down, and after some hours his knees were aching and he was sweaty and panting but Artemar had proclaimed that he finally was onto the right track. At least he didn't move .like a stick man anymore. Maglor was in the bath looking forward to a long hot soak when Kôr came by, carrying a note. It was small and discrete and Maglor sighed, he couldn't read those letters at all. He showed it to Artemar and the albino got an odd expression upon his face. "It is from her, the Sha'al's mother, she wants to meet you. "

Maglor frowned. "Is that possible?"

Artemar nodded. "Yes, she is allowed to meet others from outside of the harem, she is a widow and she is no longer fertile, so here she is regarded as a woman who no longer can tempt a man and thus she is rather free."

Maglor swallowed. "Why would she want to meet me?"

Artemar shrugged. "I sent her the notes that made the Sha'al think he can live forever drinking your piss didn't I? I bet she wants to see an elf for real"

Maglor sighed. "Right, so where and when?"

Artemar held the note to a candle, burned it. "After sunset, in the garden. She has her own guards, loyal to her, and her son will never know why she has met you. He will believe whatever she tells him."

Maglor tilted his head. "Anything I need to know?"

Artemar smiled and patted his shoulder. "Just be polite, address her as your highness and never look her in the eye, that is impolite. She is a grand person Maglor, and on our side, do not forget that."

Maglor just nodded and Artemar helped him getting clean. Then the albino braided his hair and helped him find some suitable clothes for the meeting and then Maglor was left on his own for the rest of the day. The others were training or just sitting in their rooms reading or sleeping and he had sort of understood that it was normal here to sleep during the day and be awake at night since the temperature was better then. Maglor hadn't really thought of it but the entire harem was rather hot and now he realized that it was because the entire land was very warm, not just this building. It had to be a desert near by.

He spent the evening just relaxing and when he went to the garden he did notice that some of the guards were strangers. They had to be the former queen's men and he tried to smile at them and show that he was harmless. The garden was dark, no lamps were lit and he could see the stars through the open roof, they were like gems and he felt an intense surge of longing for what had been, for those glorious happy days so long ago, before the silmarils, the oath and the horrible events that followed it.

The woman waiting for him sat in a divan, lit only by a small candle and he bowed politely and she chuckled, her voice hoarse and raw. She was smoking a water pipe and her eyes were glassy but not in any way anything but keen and intelligent. She was huge, a woman once beautiful and elegant now trapped within a prison of fat and her face was round and looked bloated. Her eyes did look tiny and she wore heavy makeup and yet he could see that she once upon a time had to have been a great beauty. She wore a thick heavy coat which covered her entire body and only her face was exposed, but the coat was overhung with jewelry. It made her sparkle and shine and she gestured towards the divan in front of her. "Please be seated, they didn't lie when they told me of your beauty master elf, you are as radiant as the stars themselves."

He felt himself blush, there was a softness in her voice and he did understand that she indeed was a very good person, one forced to live a terrible double life every day." You do flatter me your highness"

She tilted her head. "I am telling the truth my fair one, my son is absolutely fascinated by you and he is speaking of you all the time. I have worked hard to protect you from his advances."

Maglor swallowed. " I am eternally grateful your highness, I wouldn't have survived yet another…encounter"

She nodded slowly. "I know, cursed be that beast and cursed be my womb which bore such an abomination. I have wept countless tears for all the lives he has ruined, all those lives lost. He is a plague upon this earth and this collection of his a disgrace."

The elf nodded slowly. " I am glad you have that view your highness, that you are on our side"

She took a deep breath from the pipe again, the scent was different from that produced by the pipes of the others there. She saw that he did notice the difference and smiled again, widely. "It is a herb which invigorates you instead of making you docile and indifferent, it keeps the mind sharp and the thoughts flowing freely. I use another drug to make myself look half asleep, nobody knows of this"

Maglor smiled. "That is clever"

She sat up, put the pipe away. "Yes, I have to be, to survive. This land suffers under my son's rule, and his sons are as bad as their father. His reign has to end."

Maglor swallowed, he felt nervous. "So?"

She took a jar out from underneath her robes, it was the sort which contains skin cream. " I want you to use this every day, it will make your skin so smooth and silky, and it smells nice too. I use it every day, even if my beauty is long gone and my red river has run dry. "

Maglor frowned. " I do not understand?!"

She giggled like a little girl. "Oh but you will. You see, things put onto a person's skin will be absorbed by the body, and affect also what they excrete."

Maglor gasped. "Is it poisonous?"

She shook her head. "No, absolutely not, in fact it will have a great effect upon him when he ingests your water, it will make him feel stronger, more vigorous. He will think it is you who is the cause of that effect and I will make sure that he sees that you need all of the others here to remain strong and healthy, that you may need some trips outside of the harem, that you need some freedom. He will grant that after a while, and trust in the good effect of your…gifts"

Maglor felt a bit shocked by her ideas, she was cunning, so extremely so. " And then?"

She straightened her shawl a bit. "Then I will send you a new salve, one with a new ingredient which won't harm you since you are an elf but to him it will become death, a slow creeping and very hidden killer that will kill him so slowly he won't have an idea of what it is until it is too late"

Maglor looked at the woman with a sense of disbelief. " You want to use me to murder the Sha'al?"

She nodded, the eyes were rock hard for a few seconds. " I want your help to rid the world of evil, that is what I want, so, are you in on this?"

Maglor swallowed, then he gave her his hand. " I am in, let us do this"

She smiled. "The gods must have smiled on us the day you were brought here, yes, it was a blessing. You will murder my son, and I will take care of my grandsons. Do not worry about that"

Maglor just took a deep breath, what had he just gotten himself into?